Local coverage of hunter shootings

[ewagner]

This is our local paper. As you can see there are a lot of links to it but the most interesting one is the PDF file of Vang's statement to the officers.

I don't know what to think.

anyway, here's the link:
warning: graphics heavy...takes forever to load even with cable modem.

<http://www.wisinfo.com/newsherald/index.shtml>

[jean]

1. thanks for this - I heard on local Mpls radio this afternoon that a public

defender from MN was trying to get in to see Vang but had not been granted access yet.

[Nikia]

2. Their word against his

I sort of wondered if something like what he claimed may have occurred. I don't know that it can be proved either way. I am glad that it is being handled outside of local law enforcement to prevent bias and perceived bias.

[sybylla]

3. yeah, unfortunately

Perhaps the investigators can retrieve the bullet shot into the ground to confirm his story.

I'm in no position to dispute either story. Still, I can't settle in my mind that there were 8 people shot and only one with a gun. Even if it was fear that made him pull the trigger, it seems odd - it still seems as though there is something missing.

[htuttle]

4. I hope they test everyone who was at the scene for powder traces...

...on their hands.

If Vang is telling the truth, they might have stashed any extra guns they had before police arrived. Anyone who fired a weapon would still probably have traces of gunpowder on their trigger hand, however. Caveat: I probably learned about that on CSI...:eyes:

[theshadow]

5. I'm sorry, but I'm just appalled to read these posts.

By his own admission he chased the unarmed victims down and shot them. But some people are still going to find mysterious, extenuating circumstances that might lend some justification to this? And what's this desire to take the investigation away from the local authorities; oh, sure they're rural deputies so obviously they MUST be biased and stupid (and what "outside" agency is handling this??). And of course, it's never too late to start blaming the victims because they're just redneck hunters and everyone knows they don't like Asians.

[ewagner]

6. Read my post carefully

I tried extremely hard to present only what the story/statement said. I'm not implying anything.

No matter what the ultimate truth comes to be, it's a horrific crime. My sympathies go out to the families of the victums (two relatives work at the same place as my wife) and in the end I only hope that justice is served.

[theshadow]

7. I understand.

I didn't have a problem with your post.

[ewagner]

8. Thanks

sorry if I got a little aggressive.........:hi:

[AllyCat]

9. Agreed.

As soon as I heard that racial slurs were flung, I had a feeling that there was more to the story than what we heard. My great uncle lives up there and is horribly bigotted against Hmongs. I'm sure he wouldn't kill someone, but I'm also sure he's not the only one with that attitude. Maybe the victims did shoot first. I would be inclined to believe that actually, given no other information.

That said, by his own admission, Vang hunted down and killed people he KNEW to be unarmed. Maybe they hid guns, but as far as the shooter knew, they had nothing on them with the exception of the first man who told him to get out of the tree stand. His decision that he didn't want to kill anyone else leads me to believe he fully meant to do what he did. This may have started as self-defense, but it certainly went WAY beyond that.

I feel so badly for all the people involved, including the Hmong community who will likely take heat for something one member of their culture committed. Jeez, if we did that to white people, we'd all be in big trouble just by re-selecting Bush.

Vang needs to be tried and punished if convicted. And if one of those people fired first, that needs to be taken into consideration, at least for the shooting of the first guy which may have been in self-defense. Who knows. I hope they investigate this fully and fairly.

[sybylla]

10. Wasn't aware of the admission

that he'd chased them down. Been too busy the last couple of days to pay close attention to the news. However it happened, the whole damn thing is just too sad.

I also hadn't heard they were taking the investigation away from the local authorities. But I'm not surprised. That always seems to be the first thing that happens during investigations in the rural parts of the state.

As far as justification, I don't think anyone is looking to blame anyone or relieve anyone of guilt. There are already enough problems in this state with prejudice against the Hmong. I think the "search for "justification" is not about justification as much as it is about not wanting the terrible incident - or crappy reporting about it - to feed the hate. That's certainly how I feel about it, especially with over 5 days of hunting season left.

For my part, I'm trying hard to sit the fence on this one. I've been party to a terrible incident in the past and saw how poorly the press reported it. Obviously it wasn't on a national scale but because of my experience I never trust that we are getting the whole story or even completely error free snippets.

[htuttle]

11. Any given event is more complicated than the news makes it appear

No matter what it is, it's always more complicated in real life than depicted in the 45 second morality play treatment it receives at 6pm.

I am not a judge, not on a jury, nor am I a prosecutor. My opinion on this means very little in the real world, and has absolutely no effect on the situation and the outcome. Therefore, I have the freedom to examine as many angles of an event as I wish.

After Dahmer was caught, people started to examine his childhood life and upbringing, his parents, etc.... They weren't doing so to excuse what he did, but to better understand how someone could even do that.

This case is similar. Here's what seems to be an upstanding member of his community, and the father of several children, who apparently goes berserk and hunts down and kills 5 people. It's hard to understand how that can happen, so I find I want to learn more about the situation. Maybe even speculate a bit.

:shrug:

[Nikia]

12. What I mean t by bias

of the local law enforcement wasn't that they were ignorant rednecks. I meant that the area is rural and small townish where everyone knows everyone else. I have read articles that described these people as well known in the area so we can conclude that the law probably knew the victims or their families. They may feel a personal stake in making sure that the killer is portrayed in the worst possible light and the victims are portrayed as doing nothing to provoke the killer. Even if they are able to be completely objective, they may be perceived by a jury as biased. I have known of several murder cases where the murderer was found not guilty primarily for that reason. That's all I am saying.
However things happened, unless they actually all did have guns, he still committed a horrible crime.
I think there can be a couple of take home lessons such as always acting civily among armed people and not going out armed if you have any kind of anger problems. I am still not excusing anything, but I think that it is something for people to think about.

[Zynx]

13. Even if you fully believe his story, he is still a cold-blooded killer.

Only one man shot at him according to this story and he hunted down and killed the others in cold blood. He deserves to be locked away for life even by his story.